News & Events

The robot exoskeleton makes you walk

It is even difficult for a healthy person to imagine a state in which patients who are bedridden or in a wheelchair are unable to move. Today, they are helped to create many different structures and devices that help them to get out of bed and move for a while, even walk.

Recently, a list of the best inventions of this category was completed by the ReWalk robotic exoskeleton (exo means external, external), which reliably provides the ability for the patient to move even over very long distances.

Very interesting is the history of this invention, which belongs to the Israeli engineer Amit Goffer. Being himself with paralyzed limbs, for several years he worked on a device that would allow patients with paraplegia and tetraplegia to walk, investing $ 1 million in it.

The first tests were conducted in the United States, after which the device deservedly received the name "robohod". One of the "experimental" patients was an Englishwoman Claire Loman, who received a sports injury – a fracture of the spine, as a result of which she was completely immobilized. With the help of the apparatus, the woman even managed to take part in the famous London Marathon and cover a distance of 42 kilometers!

The device is easy to use. The frame is worn on the patient's body and is mounted on the chest and in the belt. The action is based on bionic technologies, when sensors pick up “mental” movements and send a command to the moving parts of the robot. That is, the patient only needs to mentally imagine where he needs to go, sit down, turn around, climb or go down the stairs, etc. The use of the device is not only in the ability of the patient to move. It quite specifically performs the function of rehabilitation, improving the blood circulation of the body, the work of the heart and other organs, not to mention the psychological positive.

Author: Wiley M. Wagner

Hello dear readers! My name Wiley M. Wagner. Whoever you are - whether a doctor, a medical student or any other profile, a researcher, an office worker or just any other person with an inquisitive mind and a desire for historical knowledge - welcome to our blog vancouvereyedoctor.ca.